In the final year of the Civil War, hundreds of volunteer soldiers hailing from eastern and central Pennsylvania were funneled to a special Union Army post in Lower Merion. For many, it was their last stop before heading back to civilian life. These men had survived years of bloody combat. Some had been wounded and hospitalized. Many had endured long captivity in the south. Thus separated from their regiments, they straggled north, sometimes alone and often in dire health.

Back From Battle: The Forgotten Story of Pennsylvania’s Camp Discharge and the Weary Civil War Soldiers It Served (Sunbury Press, 2021) tells the forgotten story of this Army post, named Camp Discharge, and its role in the rapid demobilizing of Union forces as the war was ending. Co-authors Jim Remsen and Brad Upp draw from military and medical records, pension files, diaries, memoirs, newspapers and more to present a rich account of Camp Discharge and the men it housed and helped.

Join the authors on November 18th at 6:30 PM for a free presentation and book signing in the Conservatory at West Laurel Hill Cemetery (215 Belmont Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004). Books will be available for purchase. The event is FREE but advance registration is requested.